Venom: Let There Be Carnage Review Round-Up

Megan Peters

09/30/2021 10:27 am EDT

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is the next film to join Sony Pictures' array of superhero films. Made in tandem with Marvel Studios, this wild sequel follows up with Eddie Brock in the wake of Venom's debut in 2018. With its release date a day away, the reviews for Venom: Let There Be Carnage are in, and it seems this sequel doubles down on the chaotic violence found in its predecessor.

As you can see below, a ton of critics have shared their take on the Venom sequel, and the reviews are mixed. Some believe the movie is good enough to follow up its 2018 start, but others are not critical of this story. You can check out what some of the top trades think of the film below, and of course, ComicBook.com had our own thoughts to add.

In our review of the movie, Venom: Let There Be Carnage scored three out of five stars. Our own Jamie Jirak wrote, "The sequel manages to be nothing more than a forgettable 90 minutes that's barely saved by its exhilarating mid-credits scene. With any luck, Venom: Let There Be Carnage will get better with age like its predecessor, but for now, it's just a letdown."

"Venom: Let There Be Carnage is a movie you might enjoy if go in with low expectations. Like the first Venom, there will definitely be people who love and defend the sequel, but we at ComicBook.com are not among them. There's no denying Hardy's magnetism when it comes to playing these roles, and one can only hope there will be more chances for him to act the part in a script worthy of his talent."

Clearly, the film has its high points, and Jirak rightly points out Hardy's performance as one. In the most unexpected of ways, Venom: Let There Be Carnage excels as a relationship piece as Eddie must navigate his changing relationship with his symbiotic. And when Carnage makes his debut with Cletus Kasady, the pair's growing bond is tested in ways no one ever saw coming.

What do you think of this response to Venom's comeback? Will you be checking out this big-screen sequel? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.

The Hollywood Reporter

"The best thing you can say about the action in Carnage is that it doesn't stretch the film past the hour-and-a-half mark. That's not counting the credits and inevitable hidden-scene coda, which teases a return to Venom's roots. The previous Spider-Man film featuring Venom (from 2007) is the worst of the webslinger's big-screen outings to date. Here's hoping things go better - or at least go badly in a more entertaining way - the next time they cross paths." - The Hollywood Reporter

The Los Angeles Times

"Still, even when comic book fans inevitably go wild for a game-changing mid-credits scene, it's not the promised spectacle that cements "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" as touching, wild entertainment. It's the themes of home, love, and companionship that make Serkis' sequel another reason to want more "Venom" movies, and quickly." - The Los Angeles Times

The Rolling Stones

"One of the best things about Venom (2018) is that it so often flew over the heads of people who fashion themselves smart. The movie had an admirable target - and even better aim. Here's a story about a has-been loser journalist and his alarmingly emotionally-codependent alien-symbiote inner self, starring Tom Hardy doing an enthrallingly indecisive Bobcat Goldthwaite impression for an entire movie; with a rickety plot involving a big-tech bad guy (Riz Ahmed) whose whole character profile is a list of Short Guy Energy stereotypes; CGI, pacing, and writing that seemed maddeningly unpolished, at times to the point of making you wonder if the studio actually watched the movie; and a titular weirdo antihero-alien whose brazen tongue-flicking should probably have attracted more MPAA scrutiny. The movie was and remains gloriously silly, and brash, and just the right amount of shoddy, with none of the odd energies ricocheting from scene to scene getting smoothed over in favor of the overly professional, overly world-built, vacuum-sealed, product-tested perfection of many of its peers." - The Rolling Stones

The Associated Press

"Venom: Let There Be Carnage " is best when it's not trying to be a comic book movie. That fact may not bode especially well for future spinoffs and integrations within the so-called "Spider-Verse," but one senses that director Andy Serkis, screenwriter Kelly Marcel and star/producer Tom Hardy are aware of this weakness. And they made the smart choice to lean into the oddball relationship between Eddie Brock and his alien symbiote Venom." - The Associated Press

io9

"It's really simple. If you were a fan of the original Venom, you are probably going to enjoy Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Everything that worked about the first Sony/Marvel movie-the offbeat humor, the sultry special effects, the intense characters-is all back in full force in the sequel. However, for the most part, everything that didn't work is also back, so your personal feelings on the original are a very good indicator of how you'll feel about this one." - io9

The Washington Post

"This sequel inhabits the same comfortably dumb space as its predecessor. If you liked the first one, you'll like this one. It is more violent than the first, curb-stomping right up to the edge of discomfort, but the blood and gore is mostly implied. It's fast, it's fun, and buried within is a genuinely sweet story about friendship, self-acceptance and the importance of chocolate. After all, everyone has annoying habits. Just because you don't like the tendency of the symbiote inhabiting your body to insert his opinions into your love life - and his teeth into someone else's trachea - doesn't mean you can't, in the end, have a good time." - The Washington Post

Entertainment Weekly

"Harrelson's Cletus, with his homicidal-hillbilly energy and hair seemingly purloined from the wig room at Riverdale, doesn't really need an extraterrestrial parasite to set him free; he looks like he's having a ball. (His delight at finding a sweet convertible parked on the street isn't that different from the pleasure he gets casually tossing a passing truck off the Golden Gate Bridge, or stomping in the head of an innocent bodega clerk.) That happy, heedless embrace of anarchy somehow serves the movie's YOLO sensibility, and even comes to define it in its own way - if we're all disposable space chum in this franchise game anyway, who needs a coherent narrative and character arcs? Just bite the head off every chicken, and lean in." - Entertainment Weekly

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